We love social media. It's inexpensive, and every show is looking to build the next great viral marketing campaign. With the popularity of Facebook, we must be reaching lots of ticket buyers, right?

As has been our custom for the last few years, we did a survey of the 2011 Telecharge phone and web ticket buyers. There were a few questions on the impact of social media on ticket buyers for Broadway shows.

Here's the good news: 75% of customers who have visited a show's Facebook page have "liked" a show, and two thirds of them have written on their own Facebook page about a show, their experience at a show, or their plans to see a show.That level of engagement sounds fabulous; however, only 16% of all respondents had ever visited a show's Facebook page. A lot of the heavy lifting that drives awareness and establishes a show’s broad brand presence remains the work of traditional media: print, TV, radio, outdoor, direct mail, and more recently, online banner advertising.

Social media is obviously a major force, but we need to find ways to even better engage Facebook fans and find out more about them. Are they potential ticket buyers at all? Will they purchase top-price seats, or are they more likely to buy at TKTS or the rush price?

Amidst the excitement we all are aware there are limitations to social media. And campaigns aimed at Facebook fans are important, but the data remind us that traditional media still delivers the high volume of impressions to potential ticket buyers that get the Facebook conversation started.